Chapter 9: The Nearest Place to the Heaven
Planet Ragol: Ruins: Bridge Area
From the shadows, someone watched the battle and what had happened to the Ranger. The Delsaber that attacked the RAmarl picked her up and walked through the northern door. "This isn't good," the figure muttered. She knew that the door the Delsaber walked through led to Dark Falz's resting place, and she knew what it wanted with that girl. "I have to save her, before it's too late." She was about to follow the Ranger, when the southern door opened and a HUmar clad in white armor ran through. The RAmarl's Diwari hid in the shadows and waited. The HUmar went through the northern door, and the figure heard the sound of a teleporter. She stared at the northern door, wondering if these people were from Pioneer 2. It was a few later that the southern door opened again. This time, a black armored HUmar and a white fatigued RAmarl ran through the northern door.
"That's it. I am going in there myself. Those people have no idea what they are up against." The figure walked out of the shadows and headed over to the RAmarl's sword. It was the Agito, the fourth legendary katana. The Diwari that had hid before floated over to the hunter. It let out a small beep, and flew behind the hunter. She understood that it wanted to follow her and save its master. The hunter turned to the northern door and followed the others with Agito in hand.
Planet Ragol: Ruins: ???
There was tremendous pain in Danielle's side. It was even worse than when her heart hurt from the virus. The Ranger slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was outside the ship, somewhere on the surface. The sun shone down on her, and the wind was comforting. There was a HUmar standing in front of a huge monument, and Danielle recognized him as Zechs. She tried to say his name, but couldn't. Zechs reached out and touched the monument, and cried out in surprise when the scenery around him changed. Instead of beautiful plains, there was a battlefield littered with ruins from Pioneer 1's military.
The HUmar backed away from the monument, a look of surprise on his face. Suddenly, the monument disappeared. In its place was a man. He wore his blue hair long, with uneven bangs that kept falling in front of his aviator glasses.
"Who are you," Zechs asked. The man smiled.
"The name's Max. Max Sterling. And don't bother telling me your name. It won't matter soon." Zechs stepped back and drew his Heat Saber. Then he began to scream in pain. The Hunter tried to move, but couldn't. Max Sterling, Danielle's very father, laughed gleefully.
"You're body is perfect for my master. It has been so long since it was last able to take on true form." Zechs continued to scream in pain, his body being lifted into the air by some unknown force. In a blinding flash of light, both Max and Zechs vanished, and Danielle lost consciousness again.
Someone shook Danielle, yelling her name into her ear. The RAmarl slowly came around, and looked up into the face of Jaden and Draslushee.
"What? How did the two of you… get here?" she asked weakly.
"Zechs came and told us about you. But when we heard the few messages about Dark Falz, Zechs took off looking for you. Before we could follow, some monsters attacked. We thought he might have been here," Dras replied.
"And you were right. He is here," a cold voice said. Danielle looked at the speaker and gasped. It was her father. She went to get her Vulcans, but noticed that her storage unit was gone. "Looking for this," Max asked, holding up her storage unit. He closed his hand tightly and crushed the unit.
"Who in the world are you," Jaden asked angrily. She took out her Justy 23ST and aimed at Max.
"Max Sterling. As I said to your friend earlier, don't bother telling me your names. It won't matter soon."
"What did you do with Zechs?!" Dras yelled. Max laughed and stared at Danielle in the eye.
"I'll do to you the same thing I did to him." Dras ran forward, Kameko Blade changing into its saber form. Max's hand shot out, hitting the HUmar in the face. Dras flew backwards and landed on the ground, not moving. His partner raised her rifle up and was about to shoot Max, when he dashed forward and punched her in the gut. Jaden collapsed to the ground, leaving Danielle defenseless. Max laughed again as he walked slowly towards her. She tried to back up, but she suddenly began to cough violently. The Ranger tasted blood, and she looked up into Max's eyes.
"I'll make you pay for what you did to my father," she said. Max sneered at her.
"I didn't do anything to him. I am your father. I'm just following my master's orders. Dark Falz rescued me from the explosion and brought me here. I owe it my life. I have no other choice but to pay off my debt to Falz." Danielle stumbled to her feet, clutching at the wound in her side.
"My father would never do something like that under his own free will. You are just an imposter." Max's eyes softened, and he took a step forward.
"I am not lying. Look into my eyes. Does it seem like I would lie to my own daughter?" Danielle thought for a moment, unsure of what to do. Max continued on. "My master can save your life. It can destroy the virus that is coursing through your body. Please, we want to help you Danielle." She glanced at her friends out of the corner of her eye. They were starting to get up, so she wouldn't have to worry about fighting alone.
"Sorry, but there is no way I am going to join Dark Falz. I don't care if you are my father, I will not help that monster." Max sneered again.
"So be it, Danielle. I thought that you would have loved to join your old man, but it seems I was mistaken." He walked up the steps of the monument as Jaden and Dras got to their feet. Max turned to face them. "My master will handle you. Dark Falz has been eager to meet you." The land changed into the battlefield once again, but this time, the grass vanished. On the ground were faces of people, mouths moving in a silent scream. Danielle realized with a jolt that these were the people of Pioneer 1. Max and the monument had vanished, and strange floating saws appeared.
The Darvants headed for the three hunters, and Jaden and Dras stood in front of Danielle.
"Stay here. We'll handle these things," Dras said. They began to kill the Darvants, cutting and shooting through them with ease. After killing a couple of the Darvants, the rest seemed to sink into the ground. Still holding her wound, Danielle stumbled when the ground began to shake. The monument reappeared and shattered, revealing a monster. It had two arms like the right arm of a Chaos Bringer, and a large crest rose up from behind it. The monster was riding on some sort of chariot with three dragon-like heads. Just beneath the creature's head was a human body. Danielle took one look at the creature and immediately knew what it was. Dark Falz had risen.